Map holder



Patented Jan. l, 1952- MAP' HOLDER VictorPercy Drury, Yo

Ganad rk County, Ontario,

v Application May 31, 1949, Serial No. 96,349

6i Claims.

This' invention relates to an improved road'- 4 apliolder, and thev objects of theinvent'ion are:

1f.r To design: a device for use especially in motor cars by m'eansof which one or'two road? maps may be housed',v and readily withdrawn therefrom forst'udy on either'sid'e.

2. To controlA the' withdrawali and housing of one of a; plurality of maps by elastic means common thereto, thus providing avery compact and relatively inexpensive article.

3. To provide means to prevent;` the elastic means, in action, withdrawing a map completely within the housing so that one' end 'may be exposed and: readily grasped' when required;

4. To providel Ameans tov prevent the elastic means from winding a map upwhen it is desired to keep it out Yfor study' and thus avoidthe tiresome' act of physically opposing the' housing action of said elastic means'P and which means may be used to` increase the condension vof a coil [spring where ther metal has lost some of its resiliency.

,5. To provide means whereby a complete change' of maps may be readily effectedl without permitting the coil spring to expand.

6. To provide means at one end of the map holder' to prevent latezal displacement of the coils` of they particular type of spring that may be' used`, saidmeans also providing bearings for the map spindle adjacent one side' of the maps to prevent any tendencyvv of the spindles to flex. f Various otherobiects ofthe invention will be set" forth in the following' specification.

' Inits" broadest conception the invention ccnsists of acoil spring composed of twol coiled sections and anintermediate section coupling' the coil'ed sections together; two spindles mounted in parallel relationshipin a suitablev support; to one of wl'ii'cl'i one of said coiled sectionsK is' se'- cured, and to the other of which the other' coiled section is secured and: a stationary retainer spacer unit that is immovable in said housing located adjacent the inner sides of` said coil sections to latterly maintain the same in position.

The inventionl` further consists iny condensingV a-spring' section by manually rotating'the spindle therefor after the map thereon has been removed therefrom; means to bolt said spindle against rotation while the inapis being' attached thereto, andi means to prevent the complete withdrawal of the map by its spring-driven spindle into the map' casingv so asl to maintain the condensed spring'section in its condensed state, said means preferably permitting the ready grasping of' the map" when itisd'esired izo-withdraw' it.

The invention specically further consists'oi' a springecontrolledpin movably mounted in the outer end of eachof the map spindles` at" one endl of said' supportwhereby either piniv may be, atlwill; brought into contact' with said support to prevent the rotation of the map spindlecarrying same, and whereby both the said map spindles may be individually rotated by' hand? to'y condense said' coil spring after maps havebeenf removed. therefrom, as hereinafter' more particularly explained'.

Fig. 1' is a side" elevation ofthe device.

Fig'. 2r isalongitudi 'all section centrally ofthe device.

Figi 3 isl a vertical section on the line 3:-3, Fig: 2", showing af coil spring in endY elevation.

Fig. 4 isv an' end View of' one end' of the device show-ing thev meansto prevent thev rotation of either' spindle to increase the condension of' a spring.

Fig. 5' is: a" vertical section of the line 5"-53 Figa. y

Fig; 6' is anl end elevation of` a.y coilA spring showing a modi'ed forni of` the spring' shown in Fig-31 Fig. 7 is a sidev View of a spring inE the form ofaspiralspring.

Fig'. 8T is' a side elevation of'Fig. 7'.

Fig. Qfisf' an' end' elevation of another modified form of coil spring, and y Fig. 16 is a cross section on the line Ill-all), Fig. I.

l'n thel drawings; like characters of reference refer to the same parts.

The chief novel feature of this inventionV residesv in the type' of springv used. In the coiled and spiral'y types, the forms preferably used, each section of a spring depends' upon the other to function, and at times, each section draws from the other. Thema-nner in which the ends ofthe sections are secured to the spindles determines the positions of.r the slots in the casing' enclosing the springs and their spindles; and the direction of condension and expansion of these'ctions of the spring, and" hence the direction ofv rotation of their' spindles.

The formE of' spring shown in Fig. 3 requires that the slots in the casing for the mapsbel 1o-` cate' one near the top of' the casingk and the other at the bottom thereof'. The' intermediate section of the spring coupling the two coiled: sections together lies more or' less tangential to the convolutions. Here the spindles rotate in opposite' directions and the map on thel upper spindle feeds over the upper side thereof', and

the map on the lower spindle feeds under the lower side thereof. This is also true of the forms of spring shown in Figs. '1, 8 and 9.

By locating the intermediate section of a spring diagonally between the two coiled sections thereof, as in Fig. 6, each part of the spring condenses and expands in the same direction; hence the slots in the casing can be located closer together. Here the spindles rotate in the same direction, and the maps feed over the upper sides of the spindles.

Obviously each part of a spring may be made of material of the same length, or one part may be made of a longer length of the material, when, for example, a larger map is carriedby its spindle than is carried by the spindle of its other part (Fig. 2).

The coil springs are made of suitable material such as ribbon steel (Figs. 3 and 6) and the spiral springs (Figs. 7 and 9) are made of steel wire.

The support for the spindles 2, is preferably in the form of a tube 3, of any suitable shape, the ends of which are closed by the caps 4, in which the said spindles are journalled. In Figs. 2, 3, 6, 7, 8 and 9, each spring consists of two sections 'I and 8 connected together by an intermediate section 9.

In the disclosures made, the ends of the springs are secured to their respective spindles in any suitable way. Where a spring is made of steel ribbon, one end of each spindle 2, is longitudinally slotted to receive the ends 5 as shown at 6, Fig. 2.

By any suitable means, such as the tape I0, secured at each end to a spindle 2, and operating through a slot l2, a map Il, is wound around each of said spindles. In Fig. 2 a map is shown as withdrawn from the casing 3, and of course the section 8 of the spring is condensed. If a map on either spindle should be longer than the map on the other, the section of the spring mounted on the spindle carrying the longer map can draw from the other section of the spring.

To keep the coils of a coiled spring (Fig. 2) from lateral displacement, a spacer i3, is used. This spacer is slotted as at I4, to receive the reduced ends of the spindles 2, and will butt against the unreduced ends of said spindles when placed within said casing. v

VA pin l5, is movably mounted in the ends of each spindle 2, extended beyond one end ofthe casing 3. Between the head I6, of each pin and the spindle is a spring I1, the function of which is to keep the enlarged end I8, of each pinv in contact with its spindle (Fig. 4) and sov permit the free rotation of this spindle by the post a, carried by the cap 4.

By moving one of the pins I5 to move its enlarged en d into contact with the post a, this post will prevent the rotation of the spindle 2, carrying this pin and hence a map may be retained in the position shown in Fig. 2 and be thus examined at leisure.

To condense either section of a spring of the character described, the map mounted on the spindle dominated by the weaker section is uncoupled from the tape l0, by withdrawing the rod I9, from the map and the tape, the tape is pulled into the casing 3, and wound around its spindle. By means of the pin l5, the spindle is turned carrying the weaker section of the spring until this latter is condensed to the desired degree. 'I hen the end I8 of the pin` so manipulated is brought into contact with the post a, to prevent the rotation of the spindle. The tape is then pulled out of its slot and coupled to its map. By removing the end i8 out of contact with the post a, the condensed section of the spring will re-wind the map on its spindle.

To prevent the outer end of a map from being drawn into the casing, any suitable means may be employed. The preferred means is a button b, mounted thereon as shown in Fig. 10. This button is used as a iinger grip to withdraw the map.

In the disclosures shown of the spring, the two sections of the spring are in alignment, though it will be conceived that in the form shown in Figs. 7 and 8, where the spring is made of steel wire, the sections need not necessarily be in alignment. In other words, each section may be on opposite sides of the intermediate, section 9.

It is self -evident that only one map spindle may be mounted in a suitable casing, and carried at the inner end thereof maybe one section of a coil spring, and the other section of the spring may be mounted on a shorter spindle journalled in said casing, and means provided to control the rotation of the map spindle and condense the spring. The statement just made is clearly illustrated, in its conception, in Fig. 2.

To guide the edges of a map and thus keep them from contacting the ends of a slot it is preferred to mount on the ends of the spindles collars c, preferably made of rubber.

In Fig. 9, a modified form of the spring shown in Fig. S, is shown. Here the coils of one section are positioned between the coils of the other section when the sections are in expanded form. The spindles are located eccentrically of the axes of these spring sections.

In this specification and the claims thereof the term coil is used as a generic term to embrace variously convolved forms of springs.

It must be understood that the disclosures herein are broad and comprehensive and that various changes may be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention and the scope of the claims.

I claim:

l. In combination a coil spring composed of two coiled sections and an intermediate section coupling said coiled sections together; two spindles in parallel relationship, one at least being rotatable both spindles functioning independently of the other; a suitable housing for said spindles and spring, one of said sections being coupled to one of said spindles, and the other coiled section being coupled to the other spindle a map wound around the rotatable spindle, and a stationary retainer spacer unit in said housing located adjacent theinner sides of said coil sections and immediately between one of said coil sections and said map.

2. A vmap holder comprising twoparallel spindles both functioning independently of the other; a map wound. around each of said spindles; a coil spring composed of two coiled sections which are coupled together by an intermediate section thereof tangential `to the convolutions, one coiled section mounted on and secured to one end of one of said spindles, and the other mounted on and secured to the adjacentl end of the other spindle, means to house and carry said spindles and said spring and a stationary retainer spacer unit in said housing located immediately between each coil section and the ends of the maps on said spindles.

3. ln combination a longitudinally-slotted cas:l

ing; two spindles longitudinally mounted therein; a coil spring composed of two coupled coiled sections, one section being coupled to one of said spindles, and the other coiled section coupled to the other spindle; a map for each of said spindles; detachable means whereby said maps are coupled to said spindles; means by which the desired spindle, after its map has been detached therefrom, may be rotated to condense the spring when necessary, a post, said last means being selectively movable to engage the post to prevent the rotation of the spindle by the spring, and means carried by the front end of the removed map adapted to contact said casing when the map is coupled to and reewound on its spindle through its slot in said casing when its spindle has been allowed to rotate.

4. In combination a housing; a coil-spring provided spindle longitudinally journalled in said housing and projecting beyond one end thereof; a spring-provided pin transversely mounted in said projecting end, and a post carried by said housing adjacent said projecting end of the spindle and adapted to be contacted by said pin when it is desired to prevent the rotation of said spindle by its spring.

5. In combination a coil spring composed of two coiled sections and an intermediate section coupling said coiled sections together; two spindles in parallel relationship, one at least being rotatable; .a suitable housing for said spindles and spring, one of said sections being coupled to one of said spindles and the other coiled section being coupled to the other spindle; a map wound around one of said spindles; means for detachably coupling said inap to its spindle which latter projects beyond said housing, and a springprovided pin carried by said projecting end adapted to be manually manipulated to turn said map spindle to condense the spring section carried thereon, a post, said pin movable to engage the post to prevent the spindle from rotating While the map is coupled thereto, and means to prevent the complete Withdrawal of the map into said housing when the map spindle is allowed to rotate.

6. In combination a coil spring composed of two coil sections and an intermediate section coupling said coil sections together; two spindles in parallel relationship one at least being rotatable and both functioning independently of the other; a suitable housing for said spindles and spring, one of said sections being coupled to one of said spindles, and the other coil section being coupled to the other spindle; a manually-controlled spring-provided pin movably mounted in the outer end of each of said spindles, and a post carried by and projecting beyond said housing means with which either of said spring-provided pins may be brought into engagement at will to prevent the turning of either of said spindles.

VICTOR PERCY DRURY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the lc of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

